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Balsa
Balsa is a skilled warrior from the faraway land of Kanbal. She claims to be a simple bodyguard-for-hire; in reality she wields her spear in order to save lives in atonement for the eight lives that were taken to protect her when she was a child. She is 29 years old. She is pragmatic and intelligent and does not hold much regard for class distinction customs. Despite her deadly skill with a spear, she tries not to kill in combat. Voiced by Mabuki Ando in Japanese and Cindy Robinson in English. Early Life Balsa's mother died when she was five years of age. Her father was the Chief Physician to the King of Kanbal. When Balsa was approximately six years of age, her father became embroiled in a difficult political situation. As Head Physician, Balsa's father was ordered to poison the current King of Kanbal by his younger brother, Logsum, who coveted the throne. If Balsa's father did not comply with this order, Balsa would be murdered in retribution. After agreeing to poison the current king, Balsa's father realized that neither he nor his daughter would be left alive following the King's death, as both of them would know too much. In desperation, her father went to his best friend and the only man in the palace he could trust, Jiguro Musa. Jiguro was one of the nine men who made up the King's Spears; an elite group that answered only to the throne. Each man in the group was a spear-wielder of legendary skill and led each of Kanbal's Nine Tribes. Jiguro was the youngest man ever to be honored with a place among the King's Spears and a national hero. Balsa's father described the situation and asked Jiguro to take Balsa out of the country and run. He refused. The same evening, Royal Soldiers showed up at Balsa's home, intending to kill her, when Jiguro appeared. He wounded both the guards and ran with Balsa, going back on his original refusal, helping her escape. Traveling with Jiguro Five days after leaving Kanbal, the first of their pursuers showed up. He was one of the other Nine Spears for the King and had always wished to fight Jiguro once he had been named the greatest hero of Kanbal. Jiguro killed the man to defend Balsa. Some time later, Jiguro asked a Master Blacksmith to create him a new spear equal in might to a Yogoan sword; although he did not want to kill anybody, Jiguro was aware that he might still have to kill many men. A few days later, the pair came across a second man, another Spear named Tagum. Logsum, who had now become King, not only told his men that Jiguro had conspired with the physician to murder the previous King, but also held hostage Tagum's wife and children as insurance. Jiguro killed Tagum, as neither of them felt they had any other choice; Tagum was Jiguro's closest comrade within the Spears. "I'm glad that you finally found something worth protecting," were Tagum's last words to Jiguro. Back in the Yogoan City, a migrant worker from Kanbal informed the pair that Balsa's father had been killed. Having not cried up to that point, Balsa sobbed, and Jiguro finally explained the entire situation. Balsa asked Jiguro to teach her martial arts, so she could one day make King Logsum pay for what he had done, but Jiguro refused because she was female and he did not want her to lead a life of bloodshed. Even after his refusal, Balsa was determined to learn how to use a spear and secretly watched Jiguro train. While traveling with a group of merchants, Balsa began showing off and imitating Jiguro's marital arts moves, using a stick of bamboo instead of a spear. Although Jiguro was angry enough at her display to slap her, he was so impressed that she had picked up his technique without any training that he soon began teaching Balsa properly, even allowing her to train with his spear. This was because she was both talented in the marital arts and because she had the greatest chance of survival if she knew how to fight. The two of them lived relatively safely in the Yogoan mountains for a decade, taking on bodyguarding jobs, where they met both Madame Torogai and Tanda. The remaining six members of the King's Spears finally caught up with them, and although Jiguro had wished not to kill his former friends, he fought and killed all of them, not allowing Balsa to participate in the fight. It is the death of these eight men, the King's Spears who had been friends of Jiguro, that made Balsa take a vow to save eight lives. Balsa attempted to leave Jiguro, no longer wishing to be a burden, but Jiguro indicated his fondness for Balsa and the life the two of them now led. Five years later, fifteen years after the pair left Kanbal, Jiguro became ill and died.